Argentina's Menem Hits Campaign Trail

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 9, 2003

Former president Carlos Menem hit the campaign trail Thursday in a bid to gain the Argentine presidency for the third time.

Menem, who served two terms from 1989-1999, left office amid a swirl of corruption accusations clouding his administration.

The 72-year-old is re-entering politics as Argentina is fighting its worst economic crisis in decades. Unemployment is 17 percent after five years of recession.

The country was forced to default on the bulk of $141 billion in its foreign debt in December 2001, the largest such default in history.

Polls show Menem running neck-in-neck with at least two fellow Peronist party rivals in the April 27 election.

He promised business executives Thursday to show "improvements within 90 to 100 days after we take office."

Observers redict a second round of voting will be needed before the new president is to take over May 25 from Eduardo Duhalde, a caretaker leader appointed in January 2002 at the height of the economic crisis.

Menem told the 400 business executives he would restore the confidence of foreign investors.

One of his leading rivals, Nestor Kirchner, countered that Menem "brought Argentina to the brink of moral and economic bankruptcy."

Corruption scandals engulfed Menem's top aides during his final year in office. Menem himself was detained for several months in 2001 before averting prosecution in an arms-trading scandal.

Now Playing:

Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, a third Peronist candidate for the presidency, served as interim president for less than a week during last year's crisis before his fledgling government collapsed.